If this is true, (and it looks pretty hard to prove false) it's very damning for Rodriguez. 2003 was the year he won his first American League MVP award, so there's no way he can say it didn't help his performance.

The question now is: when did he start? Looking back at ARod's stats, you can't really see an explosion in power. Maybe it was 2001, when he jumped from 41 home runs in 2000 to 52. Then again, he also played in more games that year.

It's disheartening that the steroid scandal has reached Rodriguez. He was the one player that got a pass during this whole mess. When Jose Canseco accused him, we all said "No way, Jose!"

We defended him. We might not have defended his play on the field in October. But we believed his talents (like his playoff failures) were his own.